To Hold the Sword Again
by SonYukiGoku'sSister
Summary: An old prophecy of the Black Folds... Wolfram, along with Delchias, set off on a journey to save Yuri and Conrad from hands of an age old enemy. Sequel to 'To Hold Him in My Arms' ENjoy
1. Prologue

Prologue

Within the thousand years of the creation of Shin Makoku, a cruel ruler came upon the throne. He looked down upon the people and overtaxed them, stole the daughters and openly raped them along with many other things that ought not to be said, for they are too bloody, too monstrous. Almost every one wondered how the Original King would choose such a person to rule. Perhaps he thought that such a man would be able to have a change of heart, or perhaps he would be but a lesson to many.

Whatever it was, the Maoh killed many earning him the name: Slaughter.

Not even the Shinou, who gave his orders through his priestess, was able to stop him from this madness. When the genshi miko gave the order Slaughter to step down. He simply laughed and killed the childlike priestess as well as many of the inhabitants of the Temple. Thus, dubbed the dark story of of the _Shrine Massacre_.

He claimed women weak, and set up his own priests, creating a cult of his own which he named the Black Folds. For the colour black was the most powerful colour of the Mazoku.

It may have been pride that encouraged his actions next, or his utter hatred for the humans. Whatever it was, it become the law to seek out every single worthless half-breed in the Mazoku population. His ultimate goal was to be rid of all the Humans in the world.

The first he caught was a small boy. Simply because of his half Human status.

The boy had never stopped screaming, "FATHER!" down to his dying breath. The father, helpless against the forces of the Black Folds, could do nothing. He could not stop the cruel king from his son.

Finally, to end the boy's life, Slaughter lynched the unfortunate young one as an example to any who dare to marry, let alone fall in love, with a Human. It was worse if you carry or even father the half-breeds.

The father of this boy, grief stricken over the death of his son swore revenge and led the along side four men a revolt. No one knew them, no one saw them. Some say they were the Four who swore their lives the Shinou: Rufus Von Bielefeld, Lawrence Weller, Siegbert Von Voltaire, and lastly Erhard Von Wincott. Others say they were forces of a greater evil. Whatever they were, by the blessing of the Shinou the father led them to what would be known centuries later as the Rebellion.

The Rebels led the people into every fort of the Black Folds and killed all the inhabitants. One fort at a time, regardless of men, women and children. His last words were, "I shall be resurrected by the power of my followers and by my blood! And my body shall be your descendant!"

The father, assured himself that he had no other child than his murdered son, burned Slaughter's body until not even the ashes are left behind. Then with all the blood of the countless innocent lives on his hands the father brought himself before the Shinou and committed suicide – the four men by his side. His body was never found and neither were the four men.

The only thing history can give to those who read this legend in years to come was his name. One that not many knew could be. When he had thought the cult died with him, it did not.

Humans and half Humans, particularly, children and pregnant mothers disappeared from their homes following centuries after. It became a belief that the half-breeds were an abomination.

The father was the of to houses of Shin Makoku. The families are known to be the Von Spitzberg and the Von Bielefeld.

Despite of the father's efforts, within three thousand years, a young man experienced the torture of Slaughter's followers. His torturer Olbaid Von Bielefeld was now looking for the body for Slaughter. One who had the blood of the Von Spitzberg and Von Bielefeld. His sacrifice: the last of the Weller line, Human royalty and a double black.

Author's note: Well? How is it? By the way Wolf's doing the saving this time, along with a little help. Hope you enjoyed.


	2. Time

Chapter 1: Time

He could feel the flames liking him... he was out of reach for them... he was their failure, their downfall...

The king was dead. Killed himself for the mere sight of him. His niece trying to kill him armed with only a dagger. His Lady Mother screaming at him calling He clutched his head, but it did not stop. "YAMERO!" he screamed. Trying to block out the voices of hate, he yelled defiantly, "You are not them!"

The acid tip dagger was burning his skin. He could not scream for the gag around his mouth was tight. Everything hurt. Blood was everywhere.

_Heretic... Heretic... Heretic... HERETIC!_

Brown eyes snapped open as he called for the one person who could save him from the nightmares.

* * *

"GWENDAAAL!" he heard his brother call. Gwendal jumped out of bed and rushed towards Conrad's side. From the terrified way Conrad had called him, Gwendal knew it was another nightmare – for this reason alone, he shared his room with Conrad.

The healing process and the calming herbs Gisela provided did not stop Conrad from having nightmares of his kidnap. It was working, helping, but they were helpless from the nightmares. Conrad did everything he could to not burden them.

His family were there through it all.

The first time Conrad called for him, he was screaming In his bed. Conrad clung to him in fear.

"Gwen," Conrad almost whimpered, "I keep seeing blood..."

"Shh..." Gwendal soothed, rubbing soothing circles on his brother's back, "It's all right, you're safe... you're safe..."

"I want to..." Conrad murmured, "To protect them but..."

"But?" the elder urged. Though he was mildly surprised by this announcement, but it showed him that Conrad was healing, however slowly.

"I'm scared..." Conrad murmured, almost hiding his face into Gwendal's sleeve.

"You'd be an idiot not to be..."

"But Yuri..." Conrad protested.

"Even his majesty understands that you need time..." Gwendal answered, "Remember what he said?" when Gwendal received no answer, he continued, "He said, 'Take your time,' and he meant it. Things like this take time. Your stronger than you think, just give yourself time..." Conrad just clung to the brother who saved him. Gwendal sighed, it was going to be at least an hour before they could get some sleep.

"Everything's going to be all right," Gwendal murmured as he rubbed Conrad's back, "I promise..."

Throughout the next five minutes, Gwendal vaguely wondered how his King was faring. Though Greta's encounter was not as bad as Conrad's, it was still traumatic. It vaguely brought back memories of the burning cathedral, the one mistake Conrad never seemed to forgive himself for.

Yuri's side of the castle was not faring well enough either. Greta was still suffering from guilt and nightmares from that unfortunate day. Not even the comfort of sleeping between her fathers could protect Greta from nightmares. olfram had gone to make chamomile tea while Yuri had her head on his lap, gently stroking her brown curls.

"Gomen..." she murmured. She had woken her fathers, screaming. Yuri was quick to pull her close, murmuring words of comfort into her ear. "There's nothing to be sorry about, baby," Yuri assured her as Wolfram reentered the room with Chamomile tea for everyone.

All three - Gwendal, Yuri and Wolfram - knew it was going to be a long and rocky road for their patients. What was two months on Earth was almost half a year in Shin Makoku; but then, with the erratic differences time line it was hard to tell. Currently, it had only been two months in Shin Makoku.

Though there were times when Yuri and Gwendal felt they were reaching near the end of the road, it did not stop them from doing the best they can to help. Yuri knew it was going to be a double load for Gwendal as he was the only other one Conrad and Greta trusted.

What Yuri did not know was that him being there made a world of difference to Gwendal.

The King had tried to get back to sleep after his daughter calmed down, but he kept waking up every hour until the sun rose just to insure that she was not in tears or anything. For the moment, he felt jealous over Wolfram who was out like a light after their daughter went back to sleep.

He slowly got out of bed, dressed then tucked her in and gave her a kiss. He allowed his nose to trace over her cheek, "I love you," he murmured, "Nothing you do will ever change that."

He was doing paperwork not long before Gwendal came in to join him. That morning, Yuri noticed how Gwendal seemed to do the paperwork far more slowly than he did before. It was nearly two months now and Conrad was still shaken by the ordeal. It was an incident Yuri blamed himself for. He had often done things based on the situation, following his heart.

"Everything all right last night?" Gwendal asked, bringing the young king back to reality.

"Greta had the nightmare again," Yuri yawned tiredly. Gwendal eyed his King sympathetically.

"This is the third time this week," he muttered.

"Conrad had a bad night too?" Yuri asked, worried.

His advisor nodded. They silently went back to their paperwork. Yuri felt his eyes water as he signed the paperwork, remembering his last visit to Earth.

Shibuya Yuri had done things in his life he would never be proud of. His last return to Earth was one of them, it had been disastrous.

He had permission from his parents to spend the summer in Shin Makoku. Bob had agreed to alert him if anything happened on Earth and if school was starting. Shoma felt sorry for the man who had protected his son. Yuri was thankful that his parents understood his duty as a king. It did not stop them from worrying, but there are times when one has to choose to do the right thing because doing the wrong thing would be cowardly.

"_Just be careful," Shoma told him, "I don't like the idea of that Black Folds going around killing people. Especially if you're out of the castle."_

"_I'll be careful, oyajii," Yuri promised, "besides I have to be there with my daughter."_

"_He's not so perfect after all was he?" said a sceptical voice, one of self-authority, "And yet you still keep on insisting to be by his side. It's not as if you're his babysitter, he be protecting you."_

_Yuri felt his blood boil._

_Without a second thought he punched the bathroom wall, with their parents in view, and he was not proud of it. "You want to run that by me again, Shibuya Shori?" he asked in a low and dangerous voice._

"_Why do you keep insisting...?" Shori began. Yuri however, cut him off._

"_YOU KNOW NOTHING OF HIM!" Yuri had yelled, "YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW THE BURDEN HE CARRIES!"_

It had taken a long sword practise with Wolfram for him to calm down. Wolfram, knowing Yuri as he did, said nothing. He knew Yuri wanted neither Conrad nor Greta to see him this way. Yuri could not simply push away the dreadful feeling. Showing his parents, just how angry he could become.

The Maoh had worked himself to over exhaustion for two months afterwards. He had set up a weekly meeting among the ten nobles for an update on each of their lands. The casualties within the past months were not helping at all. So far there had been three murders from three different lands: Voltaire, Khrist, and Wincott. On the the top of all that there was a tavern massacre in the Bielefeld land. Neither Yuri nor Gwendal liked the looks of it. For one thing, all three had only one thing in common: the three murdered were half-Humans as was the owner of the tavern where the massacre occurred.

Few nobles, the king could tell, had different reasons to be involved. Some were frightened by Delchias' undying loyalty for his fencing teacher. Yuri had seen the man's wrong side before and shuddered at the thought of making that particular noble angry. Waltorana showed his trust in Yuri after sparing Wolfram for pretence of wanting the throne, and for saving the country from Janus' depression.

Yuri wondered at times whether they had joined forces just to protect _him_ not the common people who were half-Human. Yuri did not like the thought, not when he wanted to show his trust in them; because that is what Kings do, they trust their subjects in order to rule with peace and prosperity.

Although it was chancy, Yuri sent a message to Adelbert requesting for his help to protect the village Yosak used to live in. He had debated with himself whether to tell Adelbert the whole story or not. Knowing the big man, the was a possibility that he would not help for Conrad's sake, and yet there was a possibility that he would help because of his love for Julia who would have done it were she still alive. At the same time, Yuri had been working on his sword skills and his maryoku.

He knew Gunter had been teaching Conrad how to fight again, but...

"How is he doing?" Yuri asked him one day, after a gruelling lesson of maryoku. By now Yuri was able to manipulate his element of water until it was lethal, his sword skills had improved despite the fact he was still at the standard of a low ranking soldier.

Gunter just looked at him and said, "Just come see, Heika. But don't let him see you." From the tone in Gunter's voice, Yuri could tell something was wrong.

Yuri entered the training hall, unseen. It was dark. There were no windows. Yuri hid behind one of the pillars as he watched Gunter and Conrad enter.

"Are you certain you want to do this?" Gunter asked, sceptic but kind.

Conrad gulped visibly but nodded. Thankfully, it was dark. Gunter was a hard teacher and he knew that himself, it made things more difficult for him to teach Conrad whom he remembered to be the worst troublemaker. Looking at what Olbaid did to that brave man before him hurt his heart. Gunter really did not wan to go through this, but it would only serve to convince Conrad that he was lowly and a coward. Those two things were what Conrad never was in his eyes - idiotic maybe - and he never will see Conrart in that light.

He handed Conrad the spare sword. "Come to me with the intent to kill," said Gunter. Brown eyes looked at him half-afraid and half-determined as their owner charged, so started the spar.

Everything seemed fine until Gunter did an upturn swing.

"Gyaagh!" Conrad yelled. He dropped his sword with a clang and used his arms to shield himself as he fell backwards onto the dirt floor. For some reason, that technique frightened Conrad.

"Enough," said Gunter, "We shouldn't be doing this if you're not ready yet."

Conrad shook. Gunter knew he was trying desperately to suppress his tears. The scene truly broke Yuri's heart. Conrad was trying to speed up his recovery, and he felt his mind was too slow.

Gunter, knowing his student was in pain, walked over and laid a soothing hand on his shoulder. "It's all right," he repeated again and again, "it's all right..." Here, Yuri felt that Gunter had taken upon himself, probably unconsciously, to be a father figure for Conrad. Just seeing the way the advisor cared for the man was enough for Yuri to seee that Gunter loved Conrad as a student if not a son.

Now, two months later an exhausted Yuri sat before an equally exhausted Gwendal in the meeting room. This morning he noticed how Gwendal's frown was deeper than before. That meant two things: either Gwendal was angry, or he was struggling with himself over something. Yuri opted for the second option since, like Delchias, angering Gwendal was close to a death sentence; and ever since he rescued Conrad from the hands of the Black-folds about two months before, everyone was careful to tiptoe around him. Even Anissina had stopped asking him to be her guinea pig.

"Gwendal," said Yuri, having enough of the silence, "something's bothering you and I can see it."

Wolfram had went on patrol in Conrad's place and took command of his men. He was not home as often as he would have liked but both he and Yuri made it a habit somehow to tighten security around Conrad and Greta.

Though Conrad was healing, they felt a savage air surrounding Shin Makoku and had requested the nobles of the land to tighten their securities as well. Lord Delchias was more than ready. Seeing the state his former teacher was in, Delchias had a look in his normally gentle blue eyes which even Anissina shuddered under. Yuri reasoned it was because Delchias resembled his late sister, he had her anger as well.

Yuri had invited Huber and his family to stay at Covenant Castle for the moment, at least until the situation were under control. No sooner had Huber brought Nicola and El to the castle did he receive words from his parents that his house has been ransacked, along with a fallen dagger that held the Black-Folds' crest. From then Huber had never let anyone Human or half-Human in the castle very far from his sight.

Gwendal said nothing to Yuri's question.

"Aniiue," Yuri said, "If it has something to do with Conrad, I need to know."

Gwendal lessened his frown when he saw there was nothing to change Yuri's mind. "Do you remember what happened a little over two months ago?"

"About Olbaid?" Yuri asked sceptically, "What about him?"

Gwendal nodded. He had been feeling the savage air as did almost everyone in the castle. He shuddered at thought of Anissina's look of kill. Apparently, the red haired gear head was more protective of Conrad than anyone had to guess otherwise. Not many people knew how much of a safe haven her lab was for Conrad when he was younger.

Gwendal had actually feared of having this talk to his king for the past two months. He had a closer eye on Yosak ever since he defeated Olbaid but... Gwendal sighed, tired of beating around the bush.

"I don't think he's dead."


End file.
